While most folks have taken down their Christmas tree and eliminated any sign of the holiday from their home, we've still got all of our holiday decor up. As much as both my husband and I would love to take it all down and get back to our normal, clutter free status, we're willing to deal with it until we celebrate El Dia de Los Reyes Mago. As a kid, the holidays were never over until January 6th and I'm happy to continue the tradition with my girls. To celebrate, I'd choose one of the three kings and leave him a letter on our Christmas tree.

s it really the end of the year? I'm baffled by how quickly time flies when you have kids. Hopefully as they get older things will slow down a bit. I'm even more baffled by the fact my kids are already 7 months and 2 1/2 years old! Offline, I'll be doing some reflecting on 2009 and soul searching for where I want to take 2010. Here in this lovely space I want to have fun. So here's is my little 2009 round-up of my favorite Latino babies of the year.

I was super excited to have my family stay with us over the holidays. It's always great to see my girls bond with their abuelo, abuela and tia—not to mention having our home spilling over with all my favorite things, mainly mami's home cooking and Español! I was not a fan of what went down when the kids went to bed. My family took the TV hostage for three straight hours a night for novela time...not even their grandchildren could lure them away from the screen!

Things are hectic but calm in my home. My mami, abuelo and madrina have arrived and my daughters are enjoying lots of play time with them. Last night we wrapped last minute presents and read stories about Santa and reindeers and snowmen. Today we'll be cooking up a storm and baking away the day for a busy Nochebuena and Christmas Day with lots of family.

I hope you all get to spend these holidays with family and friends. Feast on good food, dance around the tree and just slow down for a couple of days.

I'm a terrible gift giver! It's not that I don't care, I actually care a lot—maybe too much—and give tons of thought to what each special person in my life should receive. Trouble is, I'm just not very organized and, honestly, I'm a bit of a scatter brain. This time of year, even the best of intentions can get side tracked and I find myself running around at the last minute.

This time of year always has me itching to fill my family's life with meaningful tradition. However, it can be hectic trying to create meaning in new traditions especially with two little ones and a mami who isn't all that organized. Since becoming a mami, I've focused mainly on finding a good balance and trying to integrate the holiday traditions of my childhood and those of my husband. Here are some of the traditions from my childhood that I try to keep up with my own family.

Last Christmas, I came across Juanes's rendition of "El Burrito de Belen." It had been years since I had heard it and it melted my heart when I started listening. Needless to say, it's in serious circulation around our house this time of year. I mentioned in last week's post that music plays a big part in adding some sabor to our holiday celebrations and this week I want to know what Spanish holiday songs remind you of your childhood holidays.

As you all know I am happily married with two kids. But on certain days during the week, I play solo parent. Jeremy works longer hours several days a week so he can have more time off to spend with us. I am grateful because these early years are precious and it's nice to be present. However, those single parent days? They're hard as hell!

I've known my husband for 10 years and have been married to him for three. Yet after all this time, figuring out the holidays is always a struggle. We live in his home state, while my family is three hours away. Like many families we have to come up with a holiday split that makes everyone happy, which, as I'm sure you know, is much easier said than done. Hubby's schedule gives him every other holiday off, add two kids and traffic and traveling during the holiday rush is always a pain in the you-know-what.

When I came across the poster above from El Jefe Designs, I thought it would be a cool touch for a little boy's room. I love to find unique presents for the holidays! I love the efficiency of big box stores as much as the next person, but recently I've been all about supporting small business. One of my favorite addictions is Etsy (www.etsy.com). It's a community of crafty people who love to make stuff.

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